Rockport Music-Shalin Liu Performance Center — Attraction in Rockport

My first time visiting here was recently to see a televised performance of National Theater Live "A Streetcar Named Desire." Somehow I thought I was going to see live theater, but I must have misunderstood as others we spoke with didn't. The venue is gorgeous, and I'll plan to return to see a live show sometime. The classic play was well-acted, if not overly so: it is intense, and the violence, whether literal or suffused into the narrative, was difficult to observe. There was much sexual tension on stage and actors Ben Foster and Branwell Donaghey exuded testosterone throughout (much to my pleasure). A huge technical oversight was that there was no closed captioning. It would have been immensely helpful because words were hard to hear (volume issues), articulation on the part of the actors often wasn't good, and the strong southern accents didn't help. Being a filming of a play, there was an unnecessary intermission. We were not up for a second act of this production, so we left at the break, having gotten a good sense of what lied ahead- and we...

Shalin Liu is one of the most beautiful performance spaces in New England. The small theater, which provides seating for 330, is backed by wall-to-wall glass looking nearly due north over Rockport's Sandy Bay. During months when performances begin before nightfall, this vista provided an incomparable background to the broad range of musicians who perform there.

Parking in Rockport is notoriously challenging so be sure to allow time to seek out a spot & walk to the venue. A park & shuttle is available during the summer season but check their operating times against performance schedules. If that all works out, the shuttle will drop you at the circle at the downtown end of Bear Skin Neck, just a couple of blocks from the Shalin Liu.

I just photographed a private function for ~150 guests in their 3rd-floor function room and found the venue's staff to be well organized, helpful, and pleasant to work with - not always a given at function rooms, particularly toward service providers, so I was thankful for such a...

Last night we attended the Jack Favazza (pianist/ singer) performance of music from Billy Joel/Elton John. This was part of the "Upstairs On Main" concert series which takes place on the 3rd floor. I would have given 5 stars for the venue and performance except, there was a table of 3 individuals next to us that ruined it for us and others around us, as they talked through more than half the performance. What made it worse is they spoke loudly to one another since they were either hard of hearing (yes, advanced years) and/or oblivious to the people around them. The staff noticed as well but there was no reigning in these talkers. It is a more relaxed, intimate atmosphere, but still a concert venue. These 3 would have been better suited for the Rumbline or Minglewood if they wanted to talk over the music. Very...